Between The Bars
by ChocoPandaChan
Summary: Normal, normal, normal.  Well, as normal as you can get with the CBI, but how much is their world going to change when a man and his strange "daughter" come into the office and dumps the girl there? Who is this girl and what's wrong with her? JaneXOC
1. Red Hair and Green Eyes

**Ok, guys! I've been running about from the 103****rd**** page to the first page and have noticed that there are hardly ANY Patrick stories that AREN'T Jisbon. I don't know why that is, but I have decided to make my own story. Now, I have to warn you that I don't update very frequently due to having a lot of things going on all of the time, but I will update during the summer. For now, enjoy!**

**Oh, yes. And I don't own anything except my OCs.  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Alright, ok. If I tell you this story, will you please stop asking me about it? I will warn you, it isn't all that great. I honestly don't know why you keep bothering me about it. Don't tell me, you are curious about Patrick. Ugh. If I had a dime for everyone who was. Okay. I guess that I should start so I can get back to Patrick before he gets home. He's planning something for us to do tonight and I don't want him to worry about me because I'm late. Let's see here. Where should I begin…Oh! I know!<br>"Jane, I'm going to see Mr. Walker and make sure that he's dealing with the situation well. You stay right here, ok?"

Patrick didn't even open his eyes before responding to Lisbon. Like it really mattered if he went or not. It was probably best if he didn't go. If he went, he'd probably just start messing with the guy anyways. Just a little.

The murder mystery was solved. Everyone was happy. Well, mostly everyone, but it was a closed case. Now, it's time to relax until another case comes up.

"No need to worry about me. I'll be right here when you get back."

Patrick listened as Lisbon walked away; her shoes making a clicking sound as they hit the floor. Once the echoes died out, Patrick opened his eyes and looked around, taking notes on who was where and what they were doing.

Rigsby and Van Pelt were at their desks, either doing paper work or looking up information about the links that we've come up with in the investigation. They were both quiet and the only noises that could be heard was the shuffling of papers and the ticking of the keyboards. Cho had left with Lisbon.

Patrick rolled over onto his back and gave out a sigh. His outfit was getting wrinkled, but he didn't care. He was just tired. He needed his sleep. He placed his hands on his stomach and closed his eyes.

'Alright, Patrick. Just empty your head. Clear yourself of all thoughts. Think about sleep. Imagine you're floating on a cloud. Not a care in the world. Nothing…"

* * *

><p>Patrick woke up, but didn't open his eyes. It was a lot noisier than when he went to sleep. Lisbon and Cho are back.<p>

He gave out another sign before slowly opening his eyes, allowing them to adjust to the light.

Tea.

Tea was sounding very good right now.

He threw myself up into a sitting position before quickly getting up and walking over to the kitchen area of the floor.

He fixed himself a cup of tea and immediately took a small sip as to not burn himself.  
>Oh, yeah.<br>He needed that.

He lightly set down the teacup onto the coaster that he was holding, still with his finger looped under the handle. He let out a loud breath as he felt the warm liquid flow down his throat.

There's nothing like a nice cup of tea.

Voices caught his attention, then.

It was Lisbon and an unfamiliar masculine voice.

He casually walked over to the doorway and peaked over to look through the glass walls into their office. He could clearly see Lisbon talking to two people. One was an older man, roughly in his mid-sixties, loved to lay around and watch football, drank at least two bottles of beer a day, his favorite color is blue, he is strict and is easily angered when things don't go his way. It looks like he's had it with this girl.

She looks to be in her older teens, uncomfortable in social situations, especially when she doesn't know anyone, she tries her hardest to please people and tries to make it up the best that she can if she lets them down or upsets them, she's camera shy and doesn't like to be the center of attention her favorite color is purple, and she's trying to figure out what her next move is.

Right.

Time to go back to the office.

"Rest assured, we will find her family. Until then, she's going to have to go to Juve until we find her a foster home." Lisbon explained to the man.

"No. That's ok. She can stay with me."

Everyone looks in Patrick's direction, each with different expressions on their faces. The man seemed confused as to who this guy was, but not caring if the girl stayed with him or not. The girl looked slightly scared, but mostly confused. Lisbon's look was questioning my action and my motive.

"What? If you're letting her stay at Juve, then it shouldn't be a problem to let her stay with me. Temporarily, of course."

"What kind of a creep are you?" The guy asked him. He then focused his attention to Lisbon. "What kind of a place are you running here? Letting a creep like that-"

"Yes, yes. I understand. This is Patrick Jane. He's our Consultant." Lisbon interrupted.

The girl was peering at Patrick from under her bangs. Her hair was red like Van Pelt's, and she had Van Pelt's green eye color to boot, but she had large eyes. She was pretty. She was sizing him up. Something's wrong…

Her eyes are dilated.

Patrick was rocking on his feet and gave her a bit of a wave and a smirk.

"It's very nice to meet you, Rick." The girl said.

Her voice was smooth and slightly child-like, but there was definitely maturity in her voice. Maybe early twenties?

The guy looked alarmed, for some reason.

"Alright. She's yours. I don't care where she stays at or what you do with her. Me and my wife don't want here anymore."

With that, the guy stormed off, out of the building, leaving Patrick, Lisbon, and the girl standing there while Van Pelt, Cho, and Rigsby put down what they were doing to include themselves in this.

"He seems nice." Cho commented to Patrick.

Patrick smiled and pointed a finger at him with a slight nod of his head.

"What's your name?" Lisbon asked the girl.

"My name is Rachael Mechans. What's your name?"

"It's nice to meet you, Rachael. My name is Teresa Lisbon. I'm in head of this group. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask." The girl nodded and Lisbon walked away.

"Ms. Borentes seems really nice. I like her."

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at her.

"Who's Ms. Borentes?" Grace asked Rachael.

Rachael looked at Grace like she just asked the most idiotic question.  
>"Ms. Borentes. Lisa Borentes. That woman that was just talking to me. You know, dark brown, curly hair, big green eyes, small stature, but strong looking. She just went into her office."<p>

"You mean Lisbon." Cho replied.  
>"Yeah. That's who I said."<p>

"Noooo...You said Borentes." Rigsby responded.

"Exactly. What's wrong with you guys?" Rachael reprimanded while walking away to explore.

"Ooooh boy. This can't be good." Patrick said to himself more than anyone else in the room before walking off to follow the new girl.


	2. That Bloody Night

**If you recognize anything in my story from The Mentalist, I don't own it.**

**Also, to let you know, everything is going to be in Rachael's point of view until it's said otherwise.**

* * *

><p>Booooorrriiiiiiiiinnnggg…<p>

Why is it so dull around here?

I was lying on the couch, which is apparently strange for everyone else since they kept staring at me.

I rolled my head over to see Jack, who everyone calls Pa…um….Patrick?, staring at me. As soon as I looked over, he smiled at me, putting his cup of tea down on the coaster he was holding.

He's awkward and he makes me feel a little uncomfortable, but at the same time, he gives off a calming vibe.

I'm staring.

He's silently laughing at me, at least, his eyes are.

I looked away from him quickly, my cheeks turning a little red. He chuckled a little to himself when I did this and took another sip of his tea.

Oh, wait.

This is his couch, isn't it?

I mean, he's the one that uses this couch the most often and he actually wants to sit in it right now, right?

Oh, wooooooooow.

Leave it to me to seem like a moron.

To ease the blow of how stupid I felt, I slowly sat up into a sitting position. Jack's eyes were immediately on me, observing me in the strange way that he does. I can feel his eyes looking at almost every spot on my face. Now he's making me feel really uncomfortable.

I stood up and turned towards him. He stopped mid-sip and looked up at me expectantly.

"I'm sorry, Jack. I didn't mean to take your couch."

Jack smiled at me almost instantly after I spoke.

"How do you know that it's my couch?"

"Ummm, well…you see, you're the only one staring at me. You also look a bit expectant, like I should be doing something or whatever and moving off of the couch is the only thing that I can think of that I should do. So, here you go. Sorry for hogging your couch."

His eyes were laughing. His smile was definitely meeting his eyes. For some reason, that made me smile, too.

"You're older than you look. I'm not just saying that because you gave up the couch to me. I'm saying that because you have slight laugh lines around your eyes. They aren't very noticeable; possibly just forming. You have bags under your eyes, but you've been taking very good care of your skin. Your back appears to bring you a slight discomfort, suggesting that you've spent a lot of time hunched over or, at least, bending."

I couldn't think of anything else to do than just stare at him.

"You…wouldn't happen to, uh, know anything else, would you?"

The smile left his eyes, but there was still an echo of his smile on his face. This seemed to compliment his curly blond hair and blue eyes even better, for some reason.

"Why? Is there anything that you don't want me to know about?"

"Oh! No. I was just wondering…Where did you get that cup of tea?"

Jack pointed over in a random direction through one of the glass walls that made up the team's office.

"Thank you."

And with that, or conversation tapered and I wondered off to search about for food and drinks.

* * *

><p><strong>Jane's P.O.V.<strong>

I watched Rachael walk out of the office. As soon as she was out of sight, I leaped over to the couch, plopped down, and spread out on it, claiming it as my own.

I breathed out a sigh of contentment.

"Bad news." Lisbon said, strolling into the room. "I looked up Rachael Mechans. Guess what? She doesn't exist."

Everyone seemed to be confused by that statement.

"What do you mean she doesn't exist? An alias?" Van Pelt questioned.

"Maybe. Van Pelt, I want you to try to find any sort of information on the people that were housing Rachael before now. Cho, Rigsby, you two go and bring in Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan. I'm going to scan Rachael's fingerprints for analysis."

Cho, Rigsby, and Van Pelt gave out understanding exclamations before starting on the tasks ahead of them.

I shot up to my feet and grabbed my coat. Cho and Rigsby already knew that I was coming, but that doesn't mean that they slowed down to let me catch up.

"Hey! Hey, guys! Wait up." I shouted playfully, scurrying after them with a smile on my face.

Meanwhile, Rachael came back to the office, glanced around, and asked Van Pelt where everyone was.

* * *

><p>The trip to the Sullivan's house wasn't a very long one. When we got to the house, though, it shed off a dreading and ominous vibe.<br>It was unnerving.

There wasn't anything in particularly wrong with the house, it just seemed like something was off.

The lawn looked overgrown and the gardens left unattended. The porch looks like it hasn't been cleaned in years. The wood on the patio and door looks like it was beginning to rot.

Me, Cho, and Rigsby stepped out of the van and started up the walkway to the front door.

"Cozy." I said while looking around.

This place looked deserted. Leaves were everywhere, which was a tad bit strange since it was around the middle of July. The swing set off on the side of the yard laid in disrepair.

Ugh.

What a pigsty.

'_Some people just don't know how to take care of a home, Patrick._'

I know, honey. I'll be nice…for now.

Rigsby knocked on the door and started shifting his weight from one foot to the next as he waited.

Mr. Sullivan opened the door and looked at us incredulously.

"What do you guys want? I'm sorry, but we're not taking her back." He rattled off as we he attempted to close the door.

"Mr. Sullivan!" Rigsby interjected as he stuck his hand out in between the door and the frame, so Mr. Sullivan couldn't shut the door. "We just have a few questions about Rachael. It won't take long. "

Mr. Sullivan looked put out by our request, but opened the door and let us come inside.

The inside looked more kept up. Everything was in a neat and organized space. The house, however, gave off a musty blue color that made the house seem like a depressing place.

Mr. Sullivan guided us to the living room and sat down on a sofa. I took a chair while Rigsby and Cho took the other sofa.

"Walter?" Mrs. Sullivan shouted from somewhere else in the house. "Who was that at the door?"

Mr. Sullivan gave out a frustrated sigh before shouting back: "It's the CBI, dear. They'd like to ask us a few questions."

There was a noticeable pause before she started making noises like she was coming into the living room.

Soon, she appeared at the doorway and sat down next to her husband.

"What's the matter? What has she done this time?" Mrs. Sullivan asked Rigsby and Cho.

So, she's gotten into trouble before.

"No. She's not in any trouble. We just have a few questions. First off, did you know that Rachael Mechans is not her real name?" Rigsby asked.

Both of the Sullivans gave out an exasperated sigh and shifted. Mrs. Sullivan ringed her hands while Mr. Sullivan shifted in his seat. Both looked away. They knew.

"We had an idea." Mr. Sullivan stated. "She's not good with names. The doctors said it's a temporary effect from the trauma. You know what she used to call me? She used to call me Larva! Whenever I walked into the room, she's say: 'It's unwell Larva.' Little…" He trailed off.

Rigsby looked a little confused, while Cho leaned forward.

"Trauma? What trauma?" Cho questioned coldly.

Mr. Sullivan gave out another sigh.

"We found her in the street. She looked like she was hit by a truck. There was blood everywhere. She was still bleeding. We took some pictures, just incase something happened. She was unconscious. We rushed her to the hospital and stayed until the doctors could tell us what was wrong. They said that she was beaten pretty severely and if we didn't find her when we did, she'd be dead. They also said that she had a concussion, or something like that, and brain damage might have occurred, but it didn't. Instead, she had amnesia and…and THIS temporary problem."

"Do you have the pictures still?" Rigsby asked.

"Yes, we do. I'll go get them." Mrs. Sullivan said and left the room.

"Mr. Sullivan, when you left Rachael with us, she called me Rick. Now, she only calls me Jack. Why is that?" I questioned.

Mr. Sullivan's eyes darted around quickly for a split second before resting them on the table, then back at me.

"She must have decided that that's your name. This 'temporary problem' with names is the cause. She will hear your names, your full names, and then the problem will trigger immediately. That's what it seems to me, anyways. That's why I was called Larva." He spat out his nickname with disgust.

"It took us a while, but we figured out that her 'problem' is that she makes names into anagrams. Most likely, your last name is…Pirenta or something." He exclaimed, throwing up his left hand at me for emphasis.

I smiled at him and gave out a bit of a chuckle. "It's Tarenpi, but you were close. Very good." I paused before asking my next question. "Is there anything else that you would say is abnormal about her?" I leaned forward as Cho gave me a side-glance.

Mr. Sullivan looked straight ahead for a second before looking at me again.

"Yeah. She would sit in strange positions, like she was squatting or something, eat nothing but junk food, and she would stay awake for days on end. I think that the most that she stayed awake was for a week straight. When she would sleep, she'd sleep for about seventeen to twenty hours. She would always bite her fingers. Not her nails, but her fingers."

Mrs. Sullivan returned into the room as Mr. Sullivan said something about Rachael being a strange girl under his breath.

"Here you go. These are the pictures of that night." Mrs. Sullivan said while offering them to Rigsby who took them kindly.

"Thank you, Mrs. Sullivan. Do you mind if we take these back to our office?"

Mrs. Sullivan looked slightly scared, but then quickly shook her head and told him that we could keep them for as long as we'd like.

"Thank you ma'am. I believe that that's all that we wanted to know. Thank you for your time." Rigsby said while standing up, followed by Cho and I.

"Oh, it wasn't a problem. Please, come back any time you'd like. Best of luck to you all." Mrs. Sullivan said to us as she led us out the front door.

We gave our goodbyes, got into the car, and went back to headquarters with our new information about Rachael.

* * *

><p>We made our way back to the office where Van Pelt was working.<p>

"Hey, guys. Did you know that no one else besides the Sullivans housed Rachael? I mean, we can't get any leads this way?" Van Pelt said as soon as we walked through the doorway.

"Yeah." Rigsby said smoothly while walking over to his desk as Cho went to his and I sat down on the couch. "Apparently, the Sullivans found her beaten bloody on the street and took her in for a while. They don't know what happened. However, we do know that she's a bit strange."

"Uh," I said, catching Van Pelt's attention. "Where is Rachael right now?"

Van Pelt kept eye contact, but paused for a split second before replying.

"I think she's in the kitchen. She doesn't like the tea, but she's been eating all of the snacks."

"Ah." I said while standing up from the couch and straightening my jacket. "Well, I'm going to…uh…go and…well, see her now." I stuttered while walking towards the kitchen.

When I entered the kitchen area, Rachael was sitting on the counter, chewing on a snickers bar. As soon as I entered the room, she noticed me. Her eyes locked onto me and wouldn't look away.

"Hello, there." I said as I walked casually over to her.

She nodded her head in acknowledgement and swallowed her bite.

"Do you have any news?" She asked, putting down her snickers on the counter. Her eyes still never left mine.

"Actually, we do, but first, I'd like to ask you a question. What's the first thing that you remember?" I said, putting my hands in my pockets.

Rachael thought for a second, then replied: "I remember waking up in a hospital. It was kind of noisy. I didn't like it there. It was also really boring. When the doctors saw that I was awake, they started asking me all these questions that I couldn't answer. It made me feel so sad."

She looked down at part of the table behind me with a solemn expression on her face. She wasn't lying.

"Rachael. I'm going to need to you to remember what happened before then. To do this, I'm going to put you under hypnosis. Alright?"

Rachael's eyes shot up to mine instantly.

"No. I don't want you to."

"It's not going to hurt and I'll bring you out as soon as I get that information."

"No!"

"Ok, Jane. That's enough." A familiar voice rang out.

Rachael and I both turned our attention to the source of the voice and found Lisbon looking at us in the hallway.

"If she doesn't want to be hypnotized, she's not going to be hypnotized. Besides, I don't want you hypnotizing any more people, you got that? That's enough."

I looked down at the ground before muttering defeat. Rachael was watching me carefully.

"What was that news, anyways, Jack?" Rachael quietly asked me.

I was about to reply until Lisbon ushered us into the office.

"What's this all about, boss?" Rigsby asked when we all settled down.

"Forensics are back. We now know Rachael's real name."


End file.
